The holidays are just around the corner! I'm hosting my family this year and have started dreaming up my holiday decor ideas, and am excited to integrate some of my very own holiday items from the Land of Nod into the mix! If they came in adult size, I would be sporting my Wintry Night holiday pajamas, which come either as a onesie, or a two-piece set featuring a festive forest pattern I created just for them. I also had a total blast developing a bunch of holiday ornaments -- I was given creative freedom and was able to pitch a bunch of designs, and here are the results. There are some Baby's First Christmas ornaments, available for girls or boys, and they're customizable with the name of the babe. I also designed some fun animals (so fun to design in three-dimensions -- more objects coming soon!) and some scandinavian-inspired woodcuts. Check out all of my products for the Land of Nod
Fall for Floratopia
When Cloud9 came to me with the idea of doing a 1970s inspired corduroy collection, I was all over it. Having grown up surrounded by 70s prints, they are one of my biggest inspirations. Floratopia is an ode to the gorgeous and groovy prints that became the backdrop to my early life. To the flower-filled utopian lands that I would escape to in my many daydreams as a child, and to the songs that filled my ears during that magical time. Floratopia is a mini-collection of baby wale corduroys, and the prints are named after some of my favourite 1970s songs — Go Your Own Way, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Heart of Gold and Tiny Dancer — and are great for quilts or apparel. Now available in independent quilt shops and online. Find out where to buy on the Cloud9 website
Spark joy
I recently read the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-Up by Marie Kondo. I’d heard about the book — it’s been permeating the lives of people around me for a while now — but a friend was in the process of applying the KonMari method to her home and as she spoke, I realized that the concept not only affects your environment, but also your life. The concept is based around the idea of only surrounding yourself with things that spark joy. I embarked on a somewhat obsessive overhaul of my home, going through every item and keeping only the things that made me happy. When I finished, it was like the windows had been opened after a very long winter.
This past year has been a very pivotal one for me, and one of many contrasts… of heartbreak and transformation, loss and gain. As I gained momentum with my work, I was losing an important relationship. It was not an easy year. But I made it through. And more than ever, it feels important to me to allow myself to be guided by what sparks the greatest joy.
Throughout my life, patterns have been the backdrop to my imagination, the place I could go to get lost, a window to far-away places. Though it might sound odd, pattern has pulled me through some of my hardest days. This past year, my work has been my anchor, and I’m so thankful for all of the opportunities that have come along and perked me up and moved me forward. They’ve been the air I breathe. And I realized that I needed to return the favour —
I needed to apply the KonMari method to my business as well.
I wanted my new website to feel like a breath of fresh air. To be pared down to the essentials and be the stage for my work to shine, and to show off some of the beautiful products I’ve been so lucky to work on. It’s a little tribute to the collaborations that I’m so grateful for. And I think it’s the perfect blank slate for what’s next.
Here’s to doing more of what sparks your joy!
Elizabeth